Caring for Monitor Lizards

Who said dinosaurs were extinct? Tyrannosaurus-Rex, Raptors, Stegosaurus ,and Pterodactyls almost seem as mystical as dragons, right? Well, what if I tell you there is a huge dragon and dino community in the exotic animal trade? Well, you can't exactly head to your nearest T-Rex breeder in your area, but you can find their closest ancestors nestling up in peoples' homes. And no, I'm not talking about those wildlife rescuers who share their home with crocodiles rehabilitating them for the wild, but ordinary people. You'd be surprised how many people keep these dragons and dinos. I'm talking bearded dragons, a huge variety of monitor lizards, Caiman lizards, iguanas, and the list goes on. According to the RSPCA, the number of reptiles and amphibians kept in the UK is between 1.3-7 million. It is hard to estimate a more accurate number for these animals as most do not require a dangerous animal license and are bred for personal hobby, not commercially, and are therefore, not accounted for.

As a proud owner of a baby dinosaur, I am choosing to write my article on monitor lizards, specifically Savannah Monitors although a lot of aspects can be applied to the husbandry of most monitor species.

Disclaimer

There is no perfect step-by-step guide to the monitor husbandry. In fact, almost every aspect of caring for these animals is highly debated. Basically, they're not pets, they can be potentially very dangerous animals. If you are wanting a monitor, ensure that you can commit a huge portion of your life to them, as they are hard work and require a lot of specific care. When looking into bringing a monitor home, I felt suitable to care for them as this is my full time job. You need to learn about your monitor to understand when something is not right so that you can create the environment, diet, etc. which suits your lizard. This is just a guide to how I care for my Savannah Monitor and what I have found works for us.

Enclosure

Depending on the breed of your monitor, you're going to be looking at a 6X4X4 foot minimum vivarium. An ideal enclosure would be something similar to a 8X6X4 foot but this can obviously vary. I keep my monitor in a 6X2X2 foot vivarium at the moment as he is still only 4 months old and small, so this is suitable for him at the time being. He is just staying in this whilst we design and hand build his new, bigger enclosure (he is also out a lot of the time, either exploring or at educational shows, so he experiences a lot of freedom and space). Be sure that your vivarium is made of a hard, sturdy wood as the lizards are extremely strong and could do quite a bit of damage if they wanted to.

Accessories/Heating/Lighting

Your monitor lizard, or any reptile for that fact, should have a clear temperature gradient throughout their enclosure. This is due to them being cold-blooded, meaning they have to thermoregulate their body temperature by shifting between the cooler side of their enclosure and the hotter side. I have found to achieve the perfect temperature for my monitor, on his hot side I have a thermal bulb, a basking bulb, and a low power heat mat to heat the desert sand. Then on the cooler side, he has sphagnum moss and a mini pond, and well as a mix of aspen and beech chip, which tend to stay a bit cooler than the sand. I have rocks and hides on both ends of the vivarium, which is important so that they can be comfortable and secure enough on both ends of the enclosure. He has a thermometer at each end of the vivarium which I constantly monitor. At night, his basking bulb is turned off, and during winter, I keep the thermal bulb and heat mat on as the temperature still drops a fair amount but not too cold. In the hotter summer days, I tend to turn it all off at night except for the heat mat. It is up to you to stay vigilant to both the daytime temperatures and the nighttime temperatures. Just like any animal, you should ensure there is a fresh supply of water available at all times. Monitors love to swim, so ensure they have a big enough water source for a wee soak. Having a water bowl in their enclosure also allows for the right amount of humidity and can help with a difficult shed.

Diet

Monitors are primarily insectivores so feeding them a variety of insects is vital. They will also eat raw meat; however, ensure it is not a high fat meat, you have to be careful not to overfeed white meats. Monitors struggle to absorb a high amount of fat so can easily become obese. White meats should be fed in limited amounts, such as one mouse/rat a week. Fish is a great food for monitors as it is high in protein, calcium, and iron but low in fat (plus they love it!). DO NOT feed your monitor carp fish (goldfish) as they have little nutritional value and can become toxic. Due to monitors being carnivores and insectivores, they do not necessarily eat fruit and veg in the way other lizards do. In the wild, they'll eat whatever they find, so they will eat vegetation and if you look at the ingredients in "Meat Pie" Repashy, it does include vegetation so it does no harm, it just provides extra minerals and vitamins. As long as your monitor is having a varied diet, vegetation isn't too important. I occasionally mix in a bit of veg with some chopped up Repashy, and my monitor will eat it but not on its own. Foods which are suitable for monitors include:

• Crickets
• Locusts
• Earthworms
• Hornworms
• Super Worms
• Mealworms
• Silkworms
• Night Crawlers
• Roaches
• Snails
• Quail Eggs
• Shrimp
• Fish
• Chicks
• Mice
• Rats
• Gerbils
• Rabbits
• Chicken
• Turkey

The food should also be dusted with a calcium powder and a multi-vitamin powder a couple times a week.

In Conclusion

This article was just the basics of caring for monitor lizards. If considering owning one of these intelligent, incredible dinos, I highly insist that you do research from as many different sources as you can and don't be afraid to ask monitor owners their tips and trips.

From all of us at Fur Monster, hope to see you soon.

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